I don't know if it will still delay the lead time, that was back then when I bought it. He might as well have them on stock now so you can still decide. Ask Craig for his opinion as well, you'd want your endagme amp exactly as you like it and a few hundred bucks more or less on a price like that doesn't matter anymore then I'd say.

Never used it as a preamp so I can't help you with that. I like the sound sig of both my Marantz integrated amps a lot combined with B&W speakers.

I'd expect the Zana to impart at least some of it's flavor when used as a preamp with only the power amp part of the Marantz used though so next time I'll make sure to give it a try. I probably won't leaeave it connected like that all the time though since I'm pretty paranoid about ground loops. The fewer connections the better for me.

Yep, I did. The stock tube is pretty good though, clear and open sound.. The tubes I liked best were a Standard Radio and a black glass VT-229 Tung-Sol. Next time I'll be trying a 6SU7.

I didn't have any problems with microphonics. If your tubes are good and you place the amp well isolated you shouldn't have any, right?

And tube isolation for a headphone amp is pretty useless if you ask me, the phones drivers aren't gonna make the room shake. With speakers it gets much more important to dampen your tubes and the amp.

One of the reasons I chose the ZDSE is because it had preamp functionality too, otherwise I wouldn't have even thought of it. I'll consider some of those tube dampers from Herbies when microphonics do become an issue with my speakers.

Thank you so much for everything. I'll surely ask Craig and decide on the volume control, although I think 100K Alps would still do a decent job.

The best way to describe the LA7000 with the LF is, a 3D like soundstage,exquisite mids,perfectly placed vocals,with a bass and treble working in perfect harmony.I prefer the "low Z" matchup.

While I do enjoy my T1's, they are much more analytical , and prone to the odd treble spike.For pure musical enjoyment the LA7000 is my "go to" headphone.I practically sent them to Lawton immediately after purchase , so I can't really compare them to their original incarnation as Denons.If I have any complaints , it would be the difficulty in attaining a good seal and the slip sliding that sometimes occurs on my head while sitting back in my reclining chair for a listening session.

I'm not sure how Lawton will do with his TH900 mods , the Denon was considered a very good , but flawed headphone which Mark found the antidote.With the TH900 I have yet to hear any negative comments other than physical issues with the odd pair.So it becomes a "why fix it if it aint broke" scenario.Even the stock cable is considered top notch.

IIRC someone said Mark listens quite loud, so damping the cups, the main thing that got his mods started, would probably make significant improvements for people like him. Depending on how the cups are made, alterations to the frequency response can be made too, however.

For those who may be buying the TH-900 from eBay sellers, or elsewhere... be sure to get (and keep) the sales receipt from an authorized Fostex dealer to assure you will be able to obtain warranty service from Fostex - they will not honor the warranty if you don't.

I mention this because the Denons (which have the same gimbel connection to the cups), have had instances where the screw / bolt assembly that attaches the cups to the gimbel have come loose requiring repair. It's possible the same thing could happen to the TH-900.

Unless you want to repair them yourself (DIY), or pay someone else to repair them, you may want to consider this factor. Though, even the Fostex / Denon parts to repair the gimbel connection are very expensive.

In the case of Price Japan, you must return the phones at your expense (round trip) to Price Japan, which will arrange for the warranty repairs. In the case of a foreign dealer, you might have to do the same, though Fostex USA, has indicated to me they will honor the warranty, as long as the buyer has the original sales receipt from an authorized dealer.

Receipts are important , but at a approx 30% discount I am willing to gamble my pair will not need repairs.I suppose I view it as the same gamble one takes when buying a used pair with an expired warranty , except these are new.BTW,I may still get a receipt recognized by Fostex, so it may be a mute point anyway.